Call for Papers: Art That Is or Isn’t about Happiness

Happiness or Its Absence in ArtBen-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, 10 March 2011

Proposals due by 31 December 2010

For this symposium we invite papers relating to various aspects of the theme of happiness in art and visual culture, including concepts which generate or shape happiness (or its absence) such as: love, innocence, religious exaltation, spiritual uplift, physical pleasure and enjoyment, entertainment, food, life and death, along with misery, despair, unrequited love. We welcome papers dealing with a work of art or type of iconography, as well as studies from the field of art theory. We are interested in discourses about the perception of happiness by the artist or within the creative process itself; the status of the beholder and the artistic attempt to create a transcendental experience. New research methods and approaches within the discipline as well as papers which adopt an original perspective will receive special attention.

We cordially invite you to propose papers by sending a title and an abstract (up to 300 words) in English, in MS Word format to happiness.arts@gmail.com by December 31st, 2010. Please remember to attach your contact details. For further inquiries please contact Ms. Ronit Milano at ronitmilano@gmail.com.